Single-chain antibody against Reg4 suppresses gastric cancer cell growth and enhances 5-FU-induced cell death in vitro

BACKGROUND: Regenerating islet-derived gene family member 4 (Reg4), a well-investigated growth factor in the regenerative pancreas, has recently been reported to be highly associated with a majority of gastrointestinal cancers. Pathological hyper-expression or artificial over-expression of Reg4 causes acceleration of tumor growth, migration, and resistance to chemotherapeutic 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). Until now, no method has been successfully established for eliminating the effects of Reg4 protein. METHODS: This study reports the production of an engineered immunoglobin, a single-chain variable fragment (scFv-Reg4), to specifically bind Reg4 and block the bioactivity. The complementary-determining regions (CDRs) against Reg4 were assigned using MOE and ZDOCK servers. The binding affinity (KD) was determined by bio-layer interferometry (BLI). MKN45 and AGS cell proliferation was determined by Thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method and the cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry assay. RESULTS: The KD of scFv-Reg4 to Reg4 was determined to be 1.91×10-8. In MKN45 and AGS cell lines, scFv- Reg4 depressed Reg4-stimulated cell proliferation and the inhibitory rates were 27.7±1.5% and 17.3±2.6%, respectively. Furthermore, scFv significantly enhanced 5-FU-induced cell death, from 23.0±1.0% to 28.4±1.2% in MKN45 and 28.2±0.7% to 36.6±0.6% in AGS cells. Treatment with scFv alone could lyse cancer cells to a certain extent, but no significance has been observed. CONCLUSION: The single-chain antibody (scFv-Reg4) significantly inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and synergistically enhanced the lethal effect of 5-FU. Thus, traditional chemo-/radio- therapeutics supplemented with scFv-Reg4 may provide advances in the strategy for gastrointestinal cancer treatment.